Annoyed at calling it a fight?

[u/Rachel21321]

Anyone else thankful but also get annoyed when people call you a fighter or this cancer a fight or that you are so brave? I don’t think I am any of those things. I am doing what I need to do to get better. It doesn’t feel like anything I’m really doing is “fighting” or “brave” or even changing the situation aside from making decisions. It feels like these steps I take either work or they don’t but not through much conscious fault of my own. To me it just feels like this shitty thing to hopefully get through.

[u/CowPig84]

My sister used to say all the time that it really annoyed her when people would call her brave, even though she knew they meant well. She would say things to me after like, “I’m not brave, I’m terrified! You think I’d be pumping myself full of chemicals if I wasn’t more afraid of what would happen if I didn’t?” Things like that.

And I mean… I can’t argue with her when she puts it that way! Even though I, her big sister, still always thought she was the bravest person I’d ever known- or at the very least, the strongest.

And then you’re just doing what you need to do to survive, and people make a huge deal out of it sometimes, when all you wanna do is forget about it and feel “normal” and stop being continually reminded that you have cancer (like you could ever forget anyway, right?). Comments like those are just extra reminders.

So yeah, it totally makes sense that you feel like it’s just this shitty thing to get through, because that’s exactly what it is. And among shitty things, it ranks pretty high. After caring for two younger siblings with cancer over seven years and seeing everything they had to go through, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, so I’m really sorry to hear you’re going through it too.

I hope that the rest of your treatment goes as smoothly as possible though, and that you can feel more “normal” again soon. 🩵